Holly Willoughby has returned to This Morning for the first time since Phillip Schofield's exit. The presenter took an early half-term break following the news her co-star of 14 years was stepping down from the ITV daytime programme.
Phillip sensationally quit his role as This Morning host after reports of a rift with Holly on Saturday, May 20, but later admitted to an affair with a younger colleague and quit ITV completely on Friday, May 26. Holly and Phil's last show together aired on Thursday, May 18, which ultimately became Phillip's final show.
Now, returning alongside presenter Josie Gibson after a two-week break in Portugal, Holly has addressed her former best friend's exit and the controversy surrounding it live on television. As she opened the show at 10am on Monday, June 5, the 42-year-old said to the viewers: "Right, deep breath. Firstly, are you okay? I hope so."
Read more: Who is Josie Gibson on This Morning? From Big Brother win to replacing Phillip Schofield
She continued: "Feels very strange indeed sitting here without Phil and I imagine you might have been feeling a lot like I have, shaken, troubled, let down, worried about the wellbeing of people on all sides of what's been going on and full of questions.
"You, me, and all of us at This Morning gave our love and support to someone who was not telling the truth. Who acted in a way that they themselves felt that they had to resign from ITV and step down from a career that they loved. That is a lot to process and it's equally hard to see the toll that it's taken on their own mental health.
"I think what unites us all now is a desire to heal, for the health and wellbeing of everyone. I hope that as we start this new chapter and get back to a place of warmth and magic that this show holds for all of us we can find strength in each other."
Holly added: "And from the heart, can I just say thank you for all of your kind messages and thank you for being here this morning, myself, Josie, Dermot, Alison and Craig, and every single person that works on this show, will continue to work hard every single day to bring you the show that we love."
Josie then pulled Holly in for a hug as the presenter said: "Thank you I needed a Josie cuddle," to which Josie responded: "All we can do now is be the family that we are."
It comes after Phil told The Sun last week that Holly did not know about his affair. He said to the publication: "I've lost my best friend. Holly did not know. And she was one of the first texts that I sent to say 'I am so, so sorry, that I lied to you.' Similarly, in a tell-all BBC interview, Phil said: "Holly did not know. Nobody knew," and revealed how he had sent Holly a Whatsapp message saying he was so "desperately, desperately sorry". You can read more about the interview here.
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